No One Mourns the Wicked
by Avirra
Summary: What do three dead actresses have in common and how does Lila Archer fit in? That's what the BAU team needs to figure out quickly before time runs out for someone else. Written for Challenge #26 - Halloween Horrors! Stephen King Salute. Inspiration Stephen King work : Firestarter.
1. Chapter 1

Written for Challenge 26 - Halloween Horrors!  
CM Pairing : Spencer Reid / Lila Archer  
Steven King Inspiration Title : Firestarter

* * *

**No One Mourns the Wicked**

**Part I**

_"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live."_ Exodus 22:18

The rain was coming down as the SUVs pulled up in front of the theatre. Posters and the marquee of the theatre all announced that the musical 'Wicked' was coming soon. The musical was, if fact, due to open in three days.

As the team entered, Reid was suddenly swept away by a blur of green and black that startled everyone but Hotch.

Wrapping one of his arms comfortingly around the young woman, Reid took his other hand to her face, cupping it gently.

"Lila - are you alright? When we were called here, I imagined the worst."

Lila Archer clung to Reid, sniffling as she nodded.

"I'm fine. Physically. I - I found her. There was this thud and when I went to see what fell, there was her body and - oh God, Spencer. The blood . . ."

"Easy, Lila. Come on - deep breath. Whose body?"

"Her name is Julia Shelley. She is - was - Cathy's understudy in the role of Galinda. Cathy has a sore throat, so the director asked Julia to fill in for her during the dress rehearsal tonight so Cathy wouldn't strain her voice before opening night."

Hotch was half listening to the young actress talking to Reid while the rest of his attention was with the detective that was over the crime scene who had requested the BAU's assistance. Their quick response was due to the detective's insistence that others were in immediate danger. It was also Hotch's impression that a large portion of the fast response was due to the producer of the play being a personal friend of Strauss. While that might irk him somewhat, so long as the case was legitimate, it wouldn't bother him professionally. It was whether or not this was actually a valid case for the BAU that he was questioning with Detective Harper.

"I don't know how you and your people judge these things, but I've never seen anything like these cases for weird, Agent Hotchner."

Catching the wording, Rossi moved closer.

"Cases? I know we were called in on this one because of another attack that might be related and the chance that others are in danger, but what other cases?"

"Well, to be truthful, it was my daughter that reminded me of the other ones. It was about two years back, there was a production of 'Into the Woods' came to town. The actress that played the witch in that play was found dead - drowned in the swimming pool of the hotel she was staying at. Weird part was that she was in her costume. It was ruled an accident, but everyone that was involved with the play swore that she'd never leave the theatre in costume."

"You discussed the case with your daughter?"

The detective shook his head and pointed.

"Didn't have to. She was the one that called it in. Bea? Come over here for a minute. Agents, this is my daughter, Beatrice Harper."

Rossi offered her his hand.

"Miss Harper - you're involved in the theatre?"

"Backstage. I'm working the props for this production. I was also working props for the children's plays last year when the other woman died."

They looked back to Detective Harper for details.

"It was a touring group that came through doing plays of children's stories for the local school kids. Anyway, the woman that was acting the part of Cinderella's fairy godmother was found hanging from a tree in the park that's not far from the theatre. She was also in her costume. The circumstances looked a little funny, but there wasn't nothing definite to show that it wasn't a suicide, so that's how it was ruled."

"A little funny in what way?"

"The woman's sister swore that she had problems with stiffness in her hands and that there was no way that she could have tied the hangman's knot that was in the rope, so that meant that someone else would have had to do that for her. But no-one ever came forward to admit it."

"And now we have a third woman in costume dead. What happened to her?"

"Crushed when one of the overhead lights fell down on her. But this time, there's no question of it being an accident. The rope was cut."

Rossi automatically cast a look toward the catwalks over the stage area as he mused out loud.

"Pretty wide range of methods if we're actually thinking they're related. Drowning, hanging, crushing. Nothing in common unless you count them being in costume."

Reid gave Lila what he hoped was a reassuring squeeze before releasing her and stepping closer to his teammates.

"Actually? The methods of death do all have a common factor."

Everyone turned to look at him at that and Reid took a deep breath, hating to say it in front of Lila.

"All of those are accepted historical methods of killing witches."

Detective Harper gave Reid a scathing look.

"You believe that kind of crap?"

"It doesn't matter what I believe, Detective Harper."

It was obvious that Detective Harper was about to snark back at Reid again, but Hotch firmly stepped in, emphasizing Reid's title as he did so.

"Doctor Reid is correct. It doesn't matter what he or any of the rest of us believe. What matters is if you have someone in this area that does believe it and who has taken matters into their own hands."

Harper was obviously still a bit disgruntled about treating the cases as a possible real-life witch hunt, but grudgingly admitted that was one thing all of the victims had in common beyond acting was that they were portraying magical beings. Morgan brought up a question he had been wondering about.

"The other possibly related attack. Was it also against one of the actresses?"

That got a firm shake of the head from Harper.

"Nope. The attack was against the actor that's got the role of the Wizard. He's a smoker and he had stepped outside to take a break when he was hit by these."

The detective moved over to the table he was using to work from and lifted up three sealed bags with small rocks in them.

"He took two blows to his body that bruised him pretty well and the third rock damaged his ear. He's lucky it didn't hit him in the head. From how hard the doctor estimated that they hit him, we're pretty sure some sort of slingshot was used."

Morgan looked back to Reid.

"That still fit in with the witch theory?"

Taking one of the bags into his own hand, Rossi answered that.

"I'd say that would fit under the category of stoning, wouldn't it?"

Nodding, Reid moved closer to the table as well.

"That is another method of dealing with witches."

Rossi directed his attention over to Lila then.

"Miss Archer - you know this musical pretty thoroughly, right?"

Taking a deep breath, Lila nodded to the older profiler.

"Very thoroughly."

"How many characters deal with magic?"

"Several really. Elphaba and Galinda are witches, the Wizard, Madame Morrible teaches a sorcery school - and, of course, everyone that's part of the school is learning about magic, Nessarose has magical slippers and she's the Wicked Witch of the East - even the characters that don't actually use magic seem to get affected by it."

Hotch looked over to Lila.

"Approximately how many are in the cast altogether?"

"Counting understudies and the ensemble cast? I'd guess around forty to fifty."

Hotch and Rossi exchanged a look. This definitely wasn't going to be an easy case to cover.


	2. Chapter 2

**Part II**

The cast of the musical was gathered in front of the theatre and the team began to sort out who was staying where. Lila and Cathy were sharing a rental home. Not that it showed on his face, but Hotch was amused when Lila spoke up and offered the spare room for Reid.

"I figure you're going to have someone watching me like last time, so I'd rather have it be someone I know."

Hotch looked over to the 'Good Witch' who was not in costume, but had, for whatever reason, her prop wand in her hands and was fiddling with it nervously .

"Would that arrangement be acceptable to you?"

Cathy Beverly waved her wand like it was an extension of her hand. Rossi was having a hard time maintaining a straight face.

"Oh sure. If Lila trusts him, I do too."

Hotch just gave a nod then. They were going to need to split up to cover everyone anyway and the two main witches of the musical were obviously targets.

"Alright – Reid, you'll be on the detail watching Miss Archer and Miss Beverly. I need everyone's attention for a moment – no one is to leave the area of the theatre in costume. This is a precaution for your own safety and the safety of those around you. Do not go anywhere alone and, once you know which agent is assigned to your lodgings, make sure they know if you notice anything odd is going on."

The director called off the rest of the day's rehearsals and gave them a call time for the next day. Morgan listened to that with half an ear as he turned to the rest of the team.

"Do you think he might strike in here again? He's already deviated from his previous pattern by killing inside the theatre."

Giving a thoughtful glance back up to the catwalks, Rossi shrugged.

"Hard to say, but after the incident today, I think he'd have a difficult time managing to do it in here again. But this is the first time he's gone after more than one person in a production."

J.J. looked over to where a knot of the ensemble cast were chatting together nervously.

"I don't know of many plays or musicals that would offer so many targets. Maybe the sheer number of 'witches' is driving him to escalate?"

Hotch nodded.

"Possible. Which means we'll need to keep on our toes. Let's get moving and get everyone out of here for now. Once the CSI team has had time to process the evidence, they might have some more information for us to go on."

It was a shame that with all the characters around with supposed magical powers that no one actually had a crystal ball. Their unsub was much closer than they knew and currently studying them.

As he watched the mixed gathering of police and FBI agents through a set of field glasses, a scowl formed on the man's face as he focused to read the lips of those turned to where he could see them. He knew this was his test. These were far more powerful witches than the ones that had dared to come to his community before. Never had there been so much trouble with carrying his mission. First, the man escaped him - then the trap set off by his apprentice had caught the wrong woman. Not that she didn't deserve death as well. One willingly apprenticed to a witch was nearly as bad as being the witch herself - still, his target had been the beautiful golden one.

None of them could be allowed to escape their fates, of course, but the ones that pretended to be good or who looked beautiful? Those were the worst. They were making an abomination appear glamorous. They were drawing innocents into their filth by making the foul look fair. Thinking of innocents made him think of his apprentice and he shifted his gaze to look at her. She seemed nervous, but not any more nervous than the others around her. Satisfied that she wasn't about to give herself away, he shifted again. He'd send her a message and have her correct the mistake made with the Wizard.

Once more scanning over the ones gathered, one man's face seemed to spark a memory. Pulling his satchel closer, he began to dig through it until he found the magazine* he was looking for. Confirming his suspicions, he began laughing to himself. He had found the witch's consort. His reward for cleansing them would be even greater.

Adjusting his glasses again, he found the consort was now with both witches. It came to him suddenly what he had to do and a smile formed on his face as he tucked away his field glasses and made ready to leave. He would have to do things a little differently, but destroying the heads of the coven would make it worth it. His work for the night was just beginning and, by dawn, the world would be a cleaner place.

* * *

*Author note : The magazine being referenced is the one mentioned in my story 'One Short Day'


	3. Chapter 3

**Part III**

The man had learned quite a bit from his apprentice – included where the two main witches were staying. He had been watching them and one thing he knew for certain was that they wouldn't go straight to the rented house. They ate every meal out or at least brought take-out meals back to the house.

He knew where to get what he needed and he was at the house in short order. Quietly, he went around the darkened property from window to window with construction grade adhesive, applying it liberally. A smile formed as he finished with the last of them. The witches shouldn't be able to open the windows at all once the glue set and it only took twenty minutes to dry. Pleased with his progress, he moved to do the same to the back door. He wasn't sure that would work as well, but he used the adhesive all around the door as well as on the door knob itself.

Satisfied, he quickly unloaded the other things he would need and hid them in the back yard before moving his vehicle to a side street. Locking it, he headed back to the house on foot. He would have to wait until the three were inside before dealing with the front door.

In the meantime, Lila and Cathy were working to convince Reid to go with them to a local restaurant to eat.

"It's all well within your boss's instructions. We aren't going anywhere alone and you'll be with us, so we can report anything odd immediately."

Cathy nodded at Lila's words and joined in.

"And if we have to use the ladies room, we'll go together. You want us to be safe, don't you?"

"Well of course I do."

"Well, Agent Reid, I can guarantee that we will all be far safer eating for that wasn't cooked by me."

"Cathy's right, Spencer. She can't manage to cook ramen noodles without burning them."

Giving in, Reid just laughed and held the door to the rental car open for Cathy.

"We're going to be seeing each other a lot – just call me Spencer or Reid. Exactly how have you managed to avoid starving?"

Flashing a huge smile and a wink, Cathy settled into the car seat.

"You know, I can't recall that it was ever difficult to get a gentleman to treat me to a meal."

Closing the door for her, Reid exchanged an amused look with Lila – who opened the passenger door and slid in herself. Following her lead, Reid got into the driver's seat. After getting directions for where they wanted to go, Reid started the car and headed out.

"You guys have an enormous cast. All of you really travel together from city to city?"

From the back seat, it was Cathy that answered him.

"Yes and no for the road tour we're with. Just the primary cast really. Most of the ensemble cast is made up of local people."

"Really? And are there always local people that do that with touring companies?"

"Locals have always been involved either as background characters or doing backstage work in any road tour I've been on – and this one is my fourth one."

Lila looked back.

"Really? I knew you toured with 'Hairspray' before this one, but I didn't know there were another two."

"Oh sure. I was in 'Cats' before 'Hairspray' – of course, hard to recognize anyone under all that makeup. My very first tour was a revival of 'Oklahoma'."

Cathy leaned forward.

"I played Ado Annie. The girl who just can't say no."

Reid blushed slight. Lila just smirked.

"Typecasting, huh?"

Laughing, Cathy sat back again to Reid's great relief.

"Lines like that are why you make a good Elphaba. You already have a wicked tongue, Lila dear."

When they arrived at the restaurant, Reid placed his order then excused himself from the table to make a quick call to Hotch. Seeing the ID, Hotch answered immediately.

"Reid, is there a problem?"

"No, Hotch – Lila and Cathy wanted to get something to eat before heading to their house. It's just that Cathy said something on the way over here. Almost all of the ensemble cast members aren't actually part of the touring company. They're locals that have been brought in to fill in the gaps. And she says that every road tour she's ever been on makes use of local talent, even if just for backstage work."

"Like Miss Harper."

"Exactly. She's worked on two of the productions. Maybe she could help us determine if any of the local people have worked on all three of the shows in question."

"Good thought. We'll get with her first thing in the morning and then have Garcia run background checks on anyone that comes up. Even if it isn't them personally, it might be someone connected to them."

"Right. See you in the morning, Hotch."

Heading back to the table, Reid sat down and actually enjoyed the meal with the two very different women. He found out that Cathy had gained the nickname 'Chatty Cathy' for a reason, but at least she if she talked a great deal, she was interesting to listen to and he learned a great deal about what all when into a road tour.

"You're serious? It takes fifteen semi-trucks to move the show from city to city? That has to be expensive."

"Sure, but nowhere near as expensive as making new sets, costumes and props for every city. I hear the touring group for 'Phantom of the Opera' has twenty-one trucks. Wow – this is a great dessert. I better not eat here anymore, Lila or I'll start popping sequins and our wardrobe matron will attack me with her needle and thread. Talk about a real wicked witch."

It was nearing eleven before Reid finally pulled into the driveway of the house. There wasn't a garage, so he locked the car before they headed into the front door, Cathy yawning expansively.

"I am going straight to bed. No yoga or anything else. I'll do my stretches in the morning. Thank you for a lovely meal, Spencer. See you guys at breakfast."

After the emotional day and a full stomach, Lila was ready to turn in as well, but first she showed Reid where the guest room was which fortunately included a small attached bathroom. Reid dropped his go bag into the chair near the bed.

"At least you don't have to worry about me sneaking out in the middle of the night for a swim."

"I didn't mind the swim, just the circumstances around it. It was a dangerous thing to do."

Moving closer, Lila smiled and wrapped her arms around him.

"It was worth it."

Their lips met again for a time before they pulled apart and said their good nights. As the lights in Lila's bedroom went dark, the waiting figure smiled and moved toward the front door. He wanted to have everything ready to go at midnight.


	4. Chapter 4

**Part IV**

The rest of the team quickly divided up the rest of the protection watches. Hotch and J.J. would cover the area of the hotel shared by the main female members of the cast while Rossi and Morgan covered where most of the men were. Hotch gave out his final instructions before they separated for the night.

"Keep your weapons and phones close at hand. I don't expect anything to happen here, but the Unsub has already broken pattern, so I prefer us nearby. Just in case. If you change clothes, just make sure you have on something you won't get arrested for wearing in public. J.J., since we're in the same wing, you grab a nap first and we'll swap off around three in the morning."

Morgan looked over to Rossi,

"I have a book I've been wanting to finish, so why don't you take the first sleep session and we'll swap off like Hotch and J.J. are."

"Works for me."

Or at least Rossi originally thought that it was going to work for him. There was something in the air that was keeping him from sleeping or maybe it was just running what they knew about this case over and over again in his mind. Deciding that he'd go out for some fresh air instead of just continuing to stare at the ceiling, Rossi headed downstairs. Stepping outside of the small hotel, he'd just started to stroll around when a darting shadowed figure caught his eye. Pulling his phone out, Rossi hit the speed dial for Morgan with one hand while moving to the shadows and drawing his gun with the other.

Derek picked up on the second ring.

"Rossi? What's wrong?"

Keeping his voice soft and low, Rossi eased after the shadowy form to keep it in sight. He couldn't get a positive ID, but the movements plus his instincts told him that the person was mostly likely a woman.

"Hopefully nothing. I'm currently outside trailing a woman who seems to be trying very hard not to be seen. Haven't been able to get a good look at her and hopefully this is nothing but some illicit meeting for sex, but I don't want to continue following without somebody knowing where I am and what I'm doing."

"Keep the line open, Rossi. If I hear anything that sounds odd without you signaling me that it's alright, I'll call the troops in."

"Thanks."

The figure ahead stopped and Rossi sank back into deeper shadows just before the woman turned, looking around to see if she was alone. Rossi didn't know her name, but he recognized her as one of the women that he has seen talking to Miss Harper at the theatre. She reached out and he suddenly realized that she was about to set off the fire alarm.

"Freeze! FBI! Don't move!"

The second Derek heard Rossi yell, he disconnected the call and called first Garcia so that she could pinpoint Rossi's location by his phone's GPS and then Hotch. All the time he was calling, Derek was moving toward an exit. Leaving Hotch to call J.J., Derek reconnected with Garcia.

"Get me to Rossi, Baby Girl."

It turned out that when he actually got outside that Derek didn't need directions. He could hear the woman yelling at Rossi clearly and hurried to give the older profiler a hand. He came around the final corner to find Rossi with his gun leveled at a woman whose hand was still on the fire alarm box. The odd part was that she seemed to be the one trying to reason with Rossi.

"You don't understand, but you will. Your mind will be freed once the consort is dead. Just let me complete my mission and everything will be fine."

Rossi, as could be expected, wasn't buying it.

"Listen, lady - I don't know who this 'consort' is that you're talking about or why you think I'm under his control, but step away from the fire alarm."

Derek decided it was time to announce his presence and, hopefully, get the woman to back away from the alarm. It was always a concern with a fire alarm going off that people could panic and get hurt trying to get away from the danger. Still, Derek knew that neither he nor Rossi would actually shoot the woman to keep her from setting off the alarm. He just hoped she didn't realize that as well.

"It's over, ma'am."

Her eyes shifted as Derek spoke - then she smiled slightly.

"What time is it?"

That was so unexpected that Derek automatically answered her.

"Just a little past midnight."

Rossi felt a chill when she started laughing and moved away from the alarm pull.

"It doesn't matter now. The consort should be dead or dying."

* * *

At the house, Reid also found himself unable to sleep, though he forced himself to keep lying down so that at least his body, if not his mind, would get a little rest. Still, he had remained mostly dressed, removing only his jacket, tie and shoes. According to the small digital clock on his bedside table, it was just before midnight. He had just decided to go get a drink of water when the power died. Reid knew he might just be paranoid and that this could be a normal power outage, but it felt wrong. He was glad he'd set his shoes right by the bed and quickly felt around for them to pull them on.

Gun in hand, Reid eased open his door when a smell hit him that he recognized. Paraffin. He quickly pounded on Lila and Cathy's doors - fortunately, their rooms were close to one another.

"Ladies! Get dressed quickly - we're in danger!"

Grabbing out his phone, Reid quickly hit the speed dial for Hotch just as there was an audible whoosh as the pool of liquid around the front door caught fire. Opening her door and comprehending what was going on, Lila followed Reid's hurried instructions and began feeling her way for the back door as Reid begged Cathy to hurry. Finally opening her own door, Cathy's mouth dropped open as the flickering light from the building fire was obvious in the darkness. Then, Reid heard Hotch's voice come over the phone.

"Reid - we -"

For once, Reid interrupted his boss. He was having to alternate between talking to Hotch and talking to Cathy.

"Hotch - someone's put paraffin under the door of the house and set it on fire. Come on, Cathy - we've got to get out now."

Hotch cursed under his breath then yelled for J.J. to contact the local police and the fire department. Over the open line, he could hear Lila scream out in the background.

"Spencer! Something's wrong! The back door won't open!"

"Keep calm, Lila - I'll open the win-"

Hotch heard in rapid order the sound of breaking glass, two female screams and a thud before he lost the connection.


	5. Chapter 5

**Part V**

Lila was getting close to a meltdown as she scrambled over to Reid. The blood starting to spread on his shirt wasn't reassuring.

"Spencer?"

Despite the pain starting to radiate from his left shoulder, Reid swallowed, then took a deep breath. He knew Lila well enough that he knew by her tone that she was close to the edge. He had no idea how Cathy was, but he wouldn't be surprised if she was close to panic as well. Reid wasn't feeling any too confident himself at the moment, but he knew that he had to project calm. Panic wouldn't help any of them.

"Everyone stay down and out of line with the windows as much as you can."

Then Cathy spoke up and both Reid and Lila automatically turned their heads toward her. Her whole mannerism was so different from 'Chatty Cathy' that it was like a different person was in the room with them.

"Alright guys, Spencer's room is closest. I know it won't feel good, Spencer, but you don't need to be using that arm at the moment. Lila, help me drag him into the room. We have to hurry though, we don't have a lot of time to do everything we need to do."

Lila calmed immediately now that she had something specific to do. Each woman grabbed one of Reid's legs and then began backing to the guest room. Smoke was rolling across the ceiling now, but Cathy kept Lila focused.

As soon as they were in the room, Cathy closed the door firmly.

"Lila, go plug up the tub and the sink. Run them both full of cold water. Oh - and dump all the towels you can find into the tub and all washcloths into the sink. Hurry!"

Cathy began stripping all of the bedding off of the bed, also hauling them to the bathroom as Reid forced himself up and looked at the window. They needed to cover that with more than just the curtains.

Lila and Cathy hurried out with wet towels, Cathy jamming them against the open space at the bottom of the door.

"Alright, Spencer. Now is when I need you to move that arm - sorry. We need to stuff one of the wet blankets into the ventilation shaft. Just jerk off the cover – that's not going to be the worst damage this house is taking. Our security deposit is shot, Lila."

Lila's laugh still sounded on the edge of panic, but Cathy's continued orders and calm were helping her keep it together.

"Come on, Lila – while your lover boy is doing that, you and I are going to flip up the mattress so that it covers the windows. We don't want Rambo to see us in here."

"That's going to cut off our only light, Cathy."

"We'll work with that, Lila. You two will just be deprived of my gorgeous face for a while, that's all."

Reid's felt nauseous and a bit light headed by the time he shoved the heavy, wet blanket into the shaft. He had just finished when what little light had been in the room was closed off by the mattress. Then he heard a rattle and a triumphant sound from Cathy just before a flashlight turned on. In the darkness, it was nearly blinding.

"Bless the people who own this place for keeping flashlights in their bedside tables. I saw one in my room and I was hoping that was in all of them. Okay, kids, now we need something to carry water."

Reid went over to the desk and grabbed the vase that was there, dumping out the silk flowers onto the desk top.

"What do you want me to do with it?"

"Fill it from the bathtub and use it to splash water on the door. We want it as wet as it can be before we all retreat into the bathroom and seal it up against smoke as well as we can. After that, we're going to have to wait for rescue. Our job is to be alive when they get here. Lila? Refill the tub with cold water while we're thinking about it. Oh – and soak the mattress in front of the window as well. The window is likely to get hot as the fire spreads."

"Not that I'm not grateful that you know all this, but how do you know all this?"

Cathy flashed Lila a smile.

"Didn't I ever tell you? I'm from a family of firefighters. My grandfather, father and two of my brothers, to be precise. My dad's paranoid about hotel fires so I got the drill when he first found out I was going out with road tours."

"Remind me to send your father a thank you note."

When Reid leaned over to refill the vase again, he almost lost his balance. Cathy noticed it and winced.

"Oh geeze. Sit down on the toilet seat, Spencer. Lila – let's get the bathroom door shut and stuff the cracks of it with the rest of the towels. Then I'll see what kind of first aid stuff we have in here."

Cathy was very glad for her ability to talk nearly nonstop. She didn't want to tell either of the ones with her just how bad their chances were if aid didn't come quickly. She also knew that the police wouldn't allow anyone near the fire so long as that nut with a gun was still loose and lkely to shoot at the men that were trying to put out the fire. Which was doubly bad for them because the one thing that a fire ate faster than dry wood was oxygen.

* * *

Hotch and J.J. pulled up just in time to hear the police ordering the fire department to get further away from the house. He headed immediately for the officer in charge of the scene.

"I'm Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner with the FBI. I have a man and two civilians trapped in the house. Why are you ordering the firefighters away?"

"Captain Friedman. Sorry, Agent Hotchner, but we've had a threat called in against the firefighters that they'd be shot if they continued to put out this blaze. Are you sure there are people inside?"

"Positive. He called me and told me they were trapped inside - someone jammed the doors to keep them from being able to get out from what I could gather before the connection was lost."

J.J. felt a stab of fear as she looked at the flames.

"Our Unsub must be here. He doesn't want them to put out the fire he set."

The police captain consulted with the fire chief and the firefighters quickly started getting back into position as Captain Friedman went back to speak to Hotch and J.J.

"I've spoken with the chief and he made the call that since there are definitely people inside, he's sending his people back in - with the understanding that he might have to pull them again if someone starts shooting."

Hotch nodded, appreciative that they were willing to take the risk to themselves to help the three that were trapped inside. Rossi and Morgan were pulling up by this time and joined them in looking toward the house. Rossi glanced toward Hotch.

"Any signs of life in there yet?"

"The firefighters just went back in, Dave. I wish we knew what happened in there."

"Hopefully, they'll find them and then we'll know. Until then, all we can do is wait. Morgan and I have his accomplice. She kept ranting something about a consort while she was trying to set off the fire alarm at the hotel."

"They probably wanted the fire engine diverted from here and when that didn't work out, called in the threat against the fire crew."

Hotch looked to the fire for another minute, then turned to J.J.

"You and I are going to have a talk with the woman. We need to know who's behind all of this before he targets someone else. Dave, you and Morgan stay on the scene here just in case our Unsub might try to carry out his threat. Let me know the second you hear anything about Reid and the two women."


	6. Chapter 6

**Part VI**

Hotch and J.J. were in the middle of their initial round of talking to the woman that Rossi and Morgan had arrested. A check of her fingerprints showed her name to be Lynn Yerger. Her fingerprints were on file from a charge in another county for being a public nuissance. So far as getting actual information from her, other than her pride at being able to help wipe a 'stain' from her hometown, they hadn't been able to get anything out of her. When Hotch's phone rang, he left J.J. in the room to see if anything would come out when it was woman to woman while he answered it.

"Yes, Garcia?"

"I may have found something. I began wondering if maybe our Unsub started off with a less violent anti-witch agenda. No hits from the city you're in, but in the next county over, there was an incident back in 2005 following what had been a protest march over the showing of the movie, 'Bewitched' - one of the protesters was your Miss Yerger, by the way. That charge that got her fingerprints on file were because she chalked up a misdemeanor for being a public nuisance after she tried to block traffic during the protest."

"Continuing on, when the theatre showed the film in spite of the protests, one of the group started a fire at the theatre that night after closing. Damage was minimal, no one was injured and the judge agreed that the man had some issues, so he was given some time in a mental health facility. He was released after a few years, supposedly cured of his obsession with witches. His name is Samuel Mather - whether he is or not, he believes he's related to Reverend Cotton Mather. You may recall that name from your history books. He was a figure in the Salem witch trials. Back to present day, Mr. Mather was scheduled to have follow-up visits with the clinic, but never showed for any of them. When they sent someone to check his last known residence, they found that he had moved away. Since the follow-up visits had been recommended, but not court ordered, that was the end of it so far as the facility was concerned."

"Check the date of his known release against the death of the first actress in question."

"Already done, o Captain, my Captain. He was released back into the general population six months prior to that first death."

"Had he been on any medications?"

"Let me allow my fingers to do the walking through that little security firewall -"

"I'd rather not hear that, Garcia."

"Opps - consider that unsaid - but yes, he was on medication. If we go under the assumption that he used what he left the facility with and never went back for a new prescription? He would have run out of his medication about three weeks before that play rolled into town. The drug in quesion was Risperdal - and that is used in the treatment of such conditions as delusional disorders and schizophrenia."

"Good work, Garcia."

Rather than basking in the praise, Garcia came back with a question of her own.

"Any news on my junior G-man?"

"Not yet. We're waiting to hear from Rossi and Morgan. We'll let you know as soon as we hear anything."

As the call was disconnected, Garcia sat back in her chair with a slight frown, then leaned forward again and started typing. Time to see if she could pick up any more traces of his trail now that they knew the connection before Yerger and Mather had existed before the murders.

Hotch reentered the room and met J.J.'s eyes briefly. It was enough to tell him that she hadn't made any progress with Yerger. He decided to see what shaking her up might do.

"How long have you and Sam known one another?"

"Close to nine - wait. Who told you that name?"

She stopped speaking then and scowled at Hotch for several long moments before speaking again.

"He warned me. He did. You should be thanking us instead of persecuting us. I won't say anything else without a lawyer."

* * *

At the scene of the fire, the fire chief was finally able to send in his rescue team. When they went in, it didn't look very good. The smoke was still hanging in the air and the first two bedrooms they came across were decimated. They had trouble opening the third bedroom door and as one of them shifted to look at the bottom of the door, they had their first sign of hope. They could make out cloth of some sort stuffed around the door. After no response to pounding on the door, they broke it down. Taking note of the other precautions taken and not seeing any bodies, they went to what appeared to be the bathroom door and pounded on it. The only response back was what sounded like a cough, so they quickly broke it down as well. Ripping his glove off the first man through the door dropped to the side of the first woman, feeling for a pulse.

"She's alive - get her out and on oxygen. I'm moving to the next one."

Reached to rest two fingers on the next woman's neck, he noticed the slight blue tinge to her lips.

"Pulse, but faint. Get her to oxygen as well. One more to go."

The man was lying on his stomach, covered by what appeared to be one of the women's robes. Lifting the robe up to access him, the rescue man immediately saw the blood soaked shirt.

"We've got a bleeder in here. Bring in a board and let's get him out, There were only supposed to be three in here, correct?"

"That is correct."

"Good - we've got to get this one to a hospital fast. He's in at least level one and possible level two shock.

Morgan and Rossi were in the process of getting a health status on Lila and Cathy when Reid was brought out. Neither of them were expecting to see the blood. Morgan headed toward the exiting group immediately.

"What the hell happened to him?"

The man fitting an oxygen mask over Reid's nose and mouth answered without looking up.

"Offhand, I'd guess he was shot. Excuse me, we've got to get him loaded into the ambulance."

"I'm going with him. The man that tried to kill them is still on the loose."

"Fine - but get in now if you're coming."

"Right. Rossi?"

"Just go, Derek. I'll stay with the ladies."

As the ambulance hit the sirens and pulled away, Rossi called Hotch.

"Aaron - they found all three of them. Reid's on his way to the hospital - that background noise you heard earlier was probably him getting shot."

"Shot? Where was he hit? How bad is he? And how are the women?"

"They were hurrying him into an ambulance, so all I can tell you about where is that his shirt was bloody in the upper left region. The way they were hurrying tells me that his condition could definitely be better, but he was alive when he left here. Morgan rode with him in the ambulance. The ladies are on oxygen right down, but I'm pretty sure they're going to be making a trip to the hospital themselves."

"J.J. and I will wrap up here and meet you at the hospital, Dave. We've got a likely name and face for our Unsub now. I'll fill you and Morgan in when we get there."

The second ambulance was arriving as Rossi terminated the call. It was just as well that he needed to drive the SUV that he and Morgan had arrived in - with both women being loaded into the back, there wouldn't have been room for him to ride along any way. As he drove, a frown stayed on Rossi's face. Counting the Wizard, that made four people that the Unsub had tried to kill and failed. He had a gut feeling that the Unsub's reaction to their survival wouldn't be pretty.


	7. Chapter 7

**Part VII**

The team readied themselves to spend the rest of the night at the hospital. After the first hour, they were allowed to join Cathy and Lila in the room that they were sharing. They were going to be kept until the doctors were satisfied that their short period of oxygen deprivation hadn't caused any other problems. Rossi was encouraging them to start talking about what they remembered as Hotch stepped out into the hallway to speak with one of the fire investigators.

Lila let her head drop back against her pillow, closed her eyes and let everything flow out.

"There's not a lot I can tell you. I was asleep, then I woke to Spencer banging on my door. First thing I noticed is that the power was out, but he was yelling that we were in danger, so I just grabbed for my robe and got out of the room. Spencer had his phone in one hand and was hitting Cathy's door with the other - I could tell that a fire had started from the smell and headed for the back door like Spencer told me to. I couldn't get the door to budge at all and yelled to let Spencer know. He and Cathy came - he went to open the window so that we could go out that way, but when he reached for the window latch, I heard the glass breaking and he fell back. He warned us to stay down and out of sight of the windows - then Cathy took over. Thank God, because I know I was just staring at the blood and I didn't know what to do next."

Her eyes popped back open then.

"Has there been any word yet on how Spencer is doing?"

Rossi reached out and took one of Lila's hands.

"They had to wait until they got his breathing smoothed out before taking him into surgery, but from what I heard, they aren't expecting any complications."

He didn't bother mentioning that Reid's old nemesis, Anthrax, was the main reason for the delay. They had wanted to take extra precautions where Reid's lungs were concerned. Rossi had been about to turn the questioning to Cathy when Hotch stuck his head back into the room.

"We'll let you ladies get some rest now. We won't be far away if either of you needs us for anything."

After the others exited the room, Hotch led them to another room down the hall.

"The hospital is letting us use this consultation room for now. Garcia?"

The room had a screen and a laptop interface available, so Hotch had made use of it so that they could all listen as Garcia filled them in on the known details on their suspected Unsub. From his seat, Morgan groaned.

"Great. Someone who wants to restart the Salem witch trials."

Shaking his head as he studied the image of Samuel Mather, Rossi reached for one of the cups of coffee on the table.

"No. Not the trials. He's already appointed himself judge and executioner. If we go by his accomplice's rantings, Mather is placing a lot of emphasis on Reid as the 'consort'. She seemed convinced that Morgan and I were under his influence."

"We might be able to turn that to our advantage. Use Reid to draw him out before he targets anyone else."

"In the condition Reid's in?"

Before Morgan could protest any further, a knock on the door interrupted them. Shutting down the connection to the larger screen, but not the laptop connection, Hotch called out.

"Come in."

Morgan recognized the doctor that was on Reid's case and quickly introduced her.

"This is Doctor Heather Baer. She's the one that's taking care of Reid."

The doctor found that she now had the full attention of everyone in the room.

"Doctor Reid already gave me permission prior to surgery to keep his team fully updated, so I wanted to let you know that he is out of surgery. We have him on antibiotics to lower the chances of infection, but I'm not anticipating any trouble. He is rejecting medical advice on pain management, saying he needs to keep a clear head for the case that your team is on."

Hotch nodded in agreement. If that was the story Reid preferred to go with in this instance, they would back him up on it.

"Yes, Doctor Reid's input is needed in this case. How long will he have to remain in care here?"

The doctor gave a sigh that was partially amused.

"It's easy enough to tell you're part of the same team. We're currently replacing some of the blood that he lost. If he does well today and isn't showing signs of fever or infection, we could release him tomorrow. Assuming that he will get follow up care from his regular physician."

"We'll see that he does, Doctor. When can we see him?"

She glanced at her watch.

"He'll be in recovery for the next hour to make sure he's fully recovered from the anesthesia, then we'll be moving him to a room, You can see him once we've moved him, but just for a short period. He needs his rest, especially if he wants to be discharged tomorrow."

"Thank you. We'll be here."

Once the doctor had exited, Hotch brought the screen back up and continued.

"The lead fire investigator spoke with me just prior to us coming into here. It appears that someone used an industrial strength adhesive on the back door as well as on the windows – at least it was present on all the windows that were left by the fire."

"So their only way out would have been to break out a window – which he effectively discouraged by shooting Reid when he got close to one. He didn't leave much in the way of opinions for them."

"No, he didn't, J.J. Which leads me to believe he'll be even more frustrated that his plan didn't work. We need a press release – a vague one regarding the fire and mentioning a lone male survivor."

"You don't want any mention of the women, Hotch?"

Rossi cut in at that point.

"How about saying that the other names are being withheld until their family can be contacted?"

"That should work. So, when do we go on the air with this? The morning news?"

"Definitely, J.J. Then we'll move him to protective custody around lunchtime."

"Whoa, Hotch. The doctor said tomorrow, not later today."

"We'll be working around that, Morgan. Now, while we're waiting, let's work on getting the wording down for the news."


	8. Chapter 8

**Part VIII**

It was nearly 3 am when they were finally able to take a quick look at Reid. Looking was all that they were able to do as he was sleeping soundly by the time they reached the room and none of them had any intentions of waking him. They just took a moment and then headed back to the room they were being allowed to use.

Once back inside, Hotch locked the door behind them.

"We're going to be moving early, people. Spread out and get what rest you can. I've already made arrangements for breakfast and coffee at six thirty."

Taking off his jacket and draping it over a chair, Rossi shook his head in amusement.

"Nothing like a catnap in a hospital consultation room."

J.J. was philosophical about it.

"Beats the hard plastic chairs in the waiting rooms."

At 8 am, the morning programming was interrupted for a special live report. There was one very interested viewer who had been waiting for the morning news to hear the report on the fire. Mather turned up the volume as the camera shot showed J.J. standing before the assembled press to release an official statement from the FBI. It took a moment for him to confirm that the statement was being given from the hospital. That gave him pause. Why the hospital? They were all dead. They had to be dead. They wouldn't take dead bodies to the hospital - would they?

"Good morning. I am FBI Special Agent Jennifer Jareau. As many of you are already aware, there was a fire last night in the 800 block of Warren Avenue. The fire appears to have been deliberately set and we are asking for assistance for anyone that might have been in that vicinity. Please - if you saw or heard any unusual activity or spotted any vehicles that you did not recognize in that area around midnight, contact either our office, the local police or the local fire department."

"Pardon me, Agent Jareau?"

"Yes?"

"Why is the FBI involved?"

"There was an assault on a Federal agent in connection to the fire and we believe that the fire itself was an attempt to cover up that assault. We are unable due to the ongoing investigation to give out further details on that assault at this time."

"Is the agent alive?"

"Yes, but beyond that, all I can say is that he is receiving treatment."

"Were there any other casualties?"

"I'm afraid so, however the identity of those individuals will not be released until we have been able to contact their families."

"Damn! Damn him!"

Mather yelled at the set, then stopped watching closely as he began to pace. It was ss he'd feared - the consort was more powerful than the other magic users that he'd purged in the past. He was trying to consider what he needed to do next when movement behind the blonde agent addressing the press caught his attention. Quickly, Mather returned to the television, leaning closer. It was a private ambulance pulling up and one of other members of the FBI team was walking over to it. A slow smile formed. Of course. They must be planning to move the consort to a safe house.

Leaving the television playing behind him, he grabbed his jacket and keys, heading out quickly. He didn't live far from the hospital. If he hurried, he should be able to get there before the ambulance left and follow it.

* * *

Morgan's eyes were going between J.J. - who was still answering questions for the press - to the back of the ambulance. His tone was angry as he spoke to his nearby unit chief.

"I really don't like this move, Hotch. We're putting him into the line of fire. Literal fire at that."

Keeping his own eyes moving and on the lookout for anyone resembling the picture of Mather, Hotch kept his own voice low.

"I know that and he knows that. He knew that before he volunteered to be transported to the safe house. If you can think of a better way to draw him out before he tries to kill again, please don't hold back on the ideas."

The words deflated Morgan's anger. It wasn't Hotch he was angry at - it was this whole messed up situation. All this death, pain and suffering that could be traced back to a man who had fallen through the cracks. A man who apparently couldn't control his obsession with witches.

"Hotch?"

"Yes, Morgan?"

"Do you think his time in the mental health facility helped this guy or made him worse?"

"What do you mean?"

"Before he went in, he was a protestor. After, he's a killer."

"Hard to say for certain, but it would appear that he was already escalating. It was his move from simple protest to arson that had him placed there to begin with. His time there may have simply delayed the step from arson to murder."

"I suppose. But I don't guess we'll ever really know, will we?"

"Probably not. Heads up. They're coming out now."

"Still don't like this, Hotch."

"Me either, Morgan."


End file.
